viii, 728 pages ; 24 cm

This volume provides an analysis of stories' plot structures and their psychological meanings, attempting to distill all of storytelling down to a few archetypes. Drawing on a vast array of examples, from Proust to detective stories, from the Marquis de Sade to E.T., the author leads readers through the changes in the nature of storytelling over the past 200 years, and why so many stories have 'lost the plot' by losing touch with their underlying archetypal purpose. He analyzes why evolution has given us the need to tell stories and illustrates how storytelling has provided a uniquely revealing mirror to mankind's psychological development over the past 5000 years

Reprint. First published: London : Continuum, 2004

Includes bibliographical references and indexes

pt. 1: The seven gateways to the underworld. Prologue to part one -- Overcoming the monster -- The monster (II) and the thrilling escape from death -- Rags to riches -- The quest -- Voyage and return -- Comedy -- Comedy (II) : the plot disguised -- Tragedy (I) : the five stages -- Tragedy (II) : the divided self -- Tragedy (III) : the hero as monster -- Rebirth -- The dark power : from shadow into light -- Epilogue to part 1 : the rule of three (the role played in stories by numbers) -- pt. 2: The complete happy ending. Prologue to part two -- The dark figures -- Seeing whole : the feminine and masculine values -- The perfect balance -- The unrealised value -- The archetypal family drama (continued) -- The light figures -- Reaching the goal -- The fatal flaw -- pt. 3: Missing the mark. The ego takes over (I) : enter the dark inversion -- The ego takes over (II) : the dark and sentimental versions -- The ego takes over (III) : quest, voyage and return, comedy -- The ego takes over (IV) : tragedy and rebirth -- Losing the plot : Thomas Hardy, a case history -- Going nowhere : the passive ego : the twentieth-century dead end, from Chekhov to Close encounters -- Why sex and violence? : the active ego : the twentieth-century obsession : from de Sade to The terminator -- Rebellion against "the one" : from Job to Nineteen eighty-four -- The mystery -- The riddle of the sphinx : Oedipus and Hamlet -- pt. 4: Why we tell stories. Telling us who we are : ego versus instinct -- Into the real world : the ruling consciousness -- Of gods and men : reconnecting with "the one" -- The age of Loki : the dismantling of the self -- Epilogue : the light and the shadows on the wall -- Author's personal note -- Glossary of terms

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